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The Kokoro Connect Issue and bullying in Japan

At this point, some of you might have heard already the Kokoro Connect scandal in which some named seiyuu and production staff of the anime have bullied a small time seiyuu. For those who aren’t in the loop regarding this event, read this. In light of this issue, there has been an apology that has issued. I can’t help but feel that the apology is very technical and not heartfelt in a sense that some people who were part of bullying the small time seiyuu will get away unscathed and pretend nothing bad has happened. A screencap of the apology for those who can read Japanese can be read here. If you think this case is pretty alarming bullying case in Japan, it’s just the tip of the iceberg.

As much as I love Japan, the issue of bullying is something that has been haunting Japanese institutions for a long time and I feel that nothing has been done about it. The Kokore Connect issue only showed a glimmer of how big a problem of bullying is in Japan; Sankaku Complex has two articles about students who committed suicide because of severe bullying, one which happened very recently. The sad part about this is that most of the time, they would rather cover it up, as to preserve harmonious relationship. A survey shows how much bullying is prevalent in schools in Japan.

Personally, I really don’t see a solution to Japan’s bullying problems since the authorities themselves are very complacent to bullies as the Kokoro Connect apology showed that some of the perpetrators won’t be touched. The only way I possibly see to curb the bullying problem is a drastic shake on Japan’s culture, in which a bullied individual will assert itself and fight the bully rather than just staying passive.

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6 thoughts on “The Kokoro Connect Issue and bullying in Japan”

Nice to see you mention bullying in schools in Japan. Why something isn’t done about the very high suicide rate among Japanese youths astounds me. Unless their excuse is “Either you’re in or you’re out”.

In a group oriented culture like Japan, they value harmonious relationships so they like to keep the fuss to a very minimum. I think the reason for a high suicide rate in Japan is because the thought of social alienation scares them so much that they rather die than be alienated by their peers. That said, it actually baffles me also to see no serious solution is being made to the bullying problem. Maybe Japan likes to think that the bullying cases are just a sort of isolated problems that doesn’t warrant serious attention.

Bullying exists in every culture. Even here in Pinas we do have it. I was a victim of it myself when I was in high school. Even heard of the KARA (K-Pop girl band) bullying issue? That was even blown out of proportion compared to this seiyuu thingy.